Aldi gears up for expansion

BATAVIA, Ill. – Grocer Aldi said last month that it will open 650 new stores across the country over the next five years.

In addition, the company — which currently has nearly 1,300 stores in 32 states — will construct a regional headquarters and distribution center in Moreno Valley, Calif.

Executives say that, in order to reach the aggressive goal, over the next five years Aldi will accelerate the pace of new store openings to an average of 130 per year, up from the approximately 80 stores it has opened in each of the past few years.

In addition, they say, Aldi expects to invest more than $3 billion to pay for land, facilities and equipment.

When the expansion is complete, the chain will have stores coast to coast and anticipates serving more than 45 million customers a month.

"We’re ramping up our expansion plans to meet growing demand for Aldi from customers across the country," president Jason Hart says.

The company’s low-price shopping experience, he says, has caught the attention of consumers across the country.

"Recently, we successfully entered new markets such as Houston and expanded our presence in competitive markets like south Florida and New York City," he says. "At Aldi we believe that great quality can be affordable, and we are eager to bring the Aldi difference to new markets like Southern California."